How Not to Die
by heka
Summary: -Scrapped Princess- Based off episode 18, one of the best episodes in the series, not because Fulle died, but because they showed he existed. Wrote this a long, long time ago. Oneshot.


Heka: Ummm I wrote this a really long time ago… and I actually wanted to post it up but since didn't have a Scrapped Princess section, I didn't. Now I don't really care. Ah haha. I can't really decide, you know. In wikipedia, Fulle's name is like Furet? Such confusion.

Dark: Huh. How about _my_ stories?!

Heka: All in good time… I'm actually writing a Bleach fic now. One-shot, really.

Dark: Hello. Don't ignore me.

Shigure: She's obviously not paying attention to you…

Dark, Heka: Shut up.

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Titled: **How Not to Die**

The road stretched ahead of him, fading into the darkness. He was drenched in a mixture of rain, sweat and blood. His black eyes were glazed, a sign that he would not last much longer. His usual smooth, long black hair was now matted and sticking uncomfortably to his back. He was exhausted beyond measure, something which was unprecedented in his life. Blood was dripping past his eyes and flowing out onto the street, the arrows embedded all over his back and limbs burning into his being. Fulle swallowed painfully as his breaths became shallower. His mouth was parched dry, an irony as it was pouring steadily from the dark sky, and still he stumbled onwards, his iron will the only thing left forcing him to move on, no matter how agonisingly painful each step was.   
A whistling sound alerted his dimly perceptive mind of another arrow which buried itself into his back. Ah, his brain thought wryly, that was the, what… eleventh arrow? Or was it the twelfth? Ignoring the fresh wound stuck on his back, he continued onwards, to reach where she was undoubtedly waiting for him…   
-/-   
The bowstring was taut, ready for another shot. The archer took aim- a ridiculously easy feat- as the target was only a few feet ahead of him, and he wasn't even looking at them. He pulled the bow further back, ready to fire-   
'Enough.'   
The bow was obediently lowered. The order was from Slay, the leader of the patrol. He knew that Lace was harbouring the Abomination but he never knew that he would be so concerned about her safety that he would lay his life down for her.   
'He knew the price of defying the government. But why…'   
Lace was already notorious amongst the generals with his retirement from the Black Hawks at the height of his career. Slay also knew that Lace had a good heart and was unconsciously rebelling against the military by protecting or releasing wanted criminals. This was obviously no different from the others but was the Abomination's escape so important to Fulle that he would sacrifice himself so that she could escape? He had not gone down easy either and the proof was lying all around Fulle: bodies of dead or dying soldiers. Apparently, Fulle hadn't neglected his daggers since his retirement from the military three years ago.   
However, he would never know the answer now. He watched Fulle stumble off into the darkness, almost zombie-like, and turned away from his friend.   
'Come. Focus on finding the Scrapped Princess. He hasn't got much time left anyway…' he added quietly to himself. Flicking his reins, Slay rode off in the opposite direction, leaving Fulle behind as his party followed him.   
As he rode away, Slay took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to forget the haunting image of Fulle's still upright but near-dead body.   
'Goodbye Fulle.'   
-/-   
Fulle fell to a stop, his knees finally giving way and buckling under his weight. The shock of falling jerked him out of his daze and his head hung down in near defeat. There was no pain from his legs now, he had lost all feeling from them a while ago, from jumping and killing all the soldiers he could lay his daggers on. Similarly, his back was filled with burning barbs but he was so used to their excruciating pain that he had nearly forgotten them already. There was no point in pulling them out anyway, there were too many…   
Looking ahead through the haze of blood, rain and sweat which dripped past his eyes, to the long empty road stretching in front of him, Fulle swore quietly to himself.   
'Damn it…' he ground out through tightly clenched teeth. Pulling himself together, he continued the near-eternal crawl towards Pamela and her friends. He had promised her that he would make it back, and by Mauzer, he would make it back. Besides, he had already broken one of his promises to her, having promised that he would return without a scratch on him, and now he was returning looking like a grotesque pin cushion. Pamela would be so angry…   
At the thought of the naïve blue-eyed and blonde girl, images began flooding into his mind. He knew of this- in the final moments of a person's life, their lives would flash before their eyes. How many times had he seen people with the very same look in their eyes, before he killed them?   
Pamela's laughter, her carefree and cheerful demeanour, her beautiful azure eyes like a cat, her irritating yet endearing obsession with eggs, her rash mouth and even more rash behaviour… and her look of fear when she found out she was being hunted…   
Most predominantly, however, was her smile and look of complete joy, which stuck in his mind. Almost automatically, he found himself thinking, 'I'll protect it…'   
Filled with fresh determination, he pulled onwards, inch by painful inch. He would get to her; no matter how long it took… he promised her…   
Fulle's body could take the punishment no longer. His blood was now streaming onto the street, aided and abetted by the rain. Fulle shivered. He was so very cold… his hands were slipping on the wet stones, slick with rain and blood. His vision was now only pin pricks of lights…   
He remembered his last thought being: That orange head kid knight better keep _his_ promise…   
-/-   
Shannon's boots splashed repeatedly in the empty and flooded stone street. He was carrying an umbrella and sheltering Sizu underneath it, something which ignited plenty of unwanted memories. His face set in a grim line, he walked on, not noticing anything, until he almost stepped on someone's feet.   
He stopped- the blood pooling around the person's prone form wasn't a good sign. Handing the female Peacemaker the red umbrella, he kneeled down beside the man and checked for a pulse, though the numerous arrows poking out of his back gave him a clue of the man's condition.   
'This man was probably headed somewhere,' he murmured.

Under the red umbrella, Sizu asked, 'Where? The man's life response has ceased.'   
Shannon pulled his hand over the dead eyes, finally closing them. His pale face was streaked with blood but apparently, only death was strong enough to stop this man's resolve.   
'Wherever he was heading, somebody's got to tell him that he can't make it anymore, even if he wanted to,' Shannon continued, looking at the dark street ahead of him 'Otherwise, his spirit won't rest in peace.'   
The rain continued pouring down.

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Heka: You'll find that all speech here is taken directly from episode 18. I remembered sitting down and rewatching that episode about five times before I got all the words right.

Dark: Me!

Heka: Fulle is fantastic. I love that guy and I feel so sorry and depressed for him! I think I cried when he died –

Shigure: Rhyming couplet.

Heka: I will ignore that. Episode 18 is one of the best episodes ever! Such angst. Please review!


End file.
